ROCKFORD – The numbers within the numbers offer encouragement for the Rockford IceHogs.

Sure, the 100 shots on goal allowed in the first two games is alarming. Just how many of those were considered quality, though?

IceHogs head coach Ted Dent delves into such detail.

“We only gave up 18 scoring-chances-against when we did our numbers,” he said in analyzing his team’s defensive effort in a season-opening 3-1 loss at San Antonio. “Ideally, we’d like to be around 13, 14 a game. So 18 is not bad on 58 (56) shots.”

Still, an explanation is needed for such an unacceptable number of pucks targeted at Rockford goalies. The sum was 44 the next night in a 4-3 victory at Texas.

“I think we sat back a little bit,” Dent said. “We sort of let them (the Rampage) dictate the tempo and pace of the game. I think it’s natural with a lot of new guys, who are just getting their feet wet and with a ‘how is this going to go?’ type attitude.

“Once they realized they were in a hockey game and can play with these guys, we had a better second and third period. And in Texas, we played closer to a full 60 minutes.”

Now the IceHogs have two more opportunities to show defensive improvement in back-to-back games at Lake Erie tonight and Saturday.

“We have to play at a high pace,” Dent said. “North-south games like the (Chicago) Blackhawks -- we don’t want to slow things down.

“We have young legs, some fast skaters. We just want to be aggressive and go north all the time, and obviously attack the other team’s defense and try to create some turnovers playing like that.”

The players know they have to focus more defensively.

“We got a lot better,” goalie Kent Simpson said about the Texas matchup. “The first game is always going to be a bit of a learning curve; we’ve got a young team to start with. The second game was a lot better than the first, so that was encouraging.”